'Health and Social Care 2010', a project of the Welsh Health Planning
Forum, has been designed to link the overall strategy of the National
Health Service in Wales with the planning of local health-cave strateg
ies. During the first phase of the project, forces that may impact on
health and social services in the future have been identified, and con
sideration has been given to how the services could adapt to the expec
ted changes. The result has been a vision of a new kind of health care
based on clusters of services. Testable indicators of the vision's fu
lfilment have also been identified in the form of nine assumptions reg
arding specific future developments in the health and social services.
Groups at several pilot sites have analysed these assumptions in term
s of their achievability and desirability, thus illuminating potential
roadblocks in reaching the desired future, as well as creative ways a
round these problems.